In recent years, the Jungler position has become increasingly important in a League of Legends lineup, especially in the professional scene. Not only are they responsible for ganking lanes, initiating fights, and providing crowd control and tankiness, but Junglers also play a key role in executing the team’s gameplay strategy. This was clearly visible during the 2023 World Championship and Spring 2024, where Junglers like Oner and Canyon could perform well, leading their teams to strong results and dominating opponents from the start of matches.
With the meta surrounding the Jungler position seeing little significant change, players in this role will still be key links at MSI 2024. Recently, the international LoL community released a ranking of Junglers for the upcoming tournament in Chengdu, which immediately sparked controversy. According to the rankings, tier S only includes Canyon. In tier A are Oner, Xun, Tian, and Razork. Tier B includes Yike, UmTi, Inspired, and JunJia, while Levi and Josedeodo are placed in tier C. Finally, Croc from LOUD is at the bottom.
The first issue raised is that Canyon did not overwhelmingly outplay Oner in the recent LCK Spring Finals. Had he not used a volatile champion like Kha’Zix and with Chovy and Kiin not performing particularly well, Canyon may not have controlled the pivotal fourth game in the matchup against T1. Moreover, Canyon has been absent from international competitions for quite some time, and it’s uncertain if he can perform at his best upon this return.
However, the middle tier positions are what truly deserve attention, specifically tiers B and C. Despite being the reigning LCS champion, UmTi has not showcased much during his time in the LCK. In fact, even though he has years of experience, this will be his first time participating in a major international tournament in the League of Legends scene. Thus, tier B is considered a bit too high for UmTi.
Notably, both UmTi and JunJia are ranked higher than Levi. While UmTi lacks international experience, JunJia did not perform well at the last World Championship, with his PSG Talon team failing to even get through the Play-In stage. Meanwhile, a senior from the LCK like UmTi, Pyosik, was completely “shut down” by Levi last year.
Of course, all rankings ahead of tournaments are merely for reference. However, it is clear that some players are being undervalued compared to their actual abilities relative to some of their peers, and the Jungler position is a prime example.